Tube emptying apparatus

ABSTRACT

A gas operated tube emptying apparatus for firing missiles into a tube. The apparatus includes a gas source, a gas control and delivery unit connected to the source for delivering the pressure and amount of gas needed. The apparatus further includes a missile delivery unit having a bin for holding a plurality of missiles and a missile loading tube extending between the delivery unit and a firing chamber. The firing chamber has a barrel extending upwardly therefrom and is connected to the gas source so that as the gas control unit supplies a burst of gas a missile is drawn into the barrel from the chamber and fired through the barrel into a tube.

This is a divisional of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 318,274filed 11041981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,705.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tube reactors are used in many industrial applications. This isespecially true in the petrochemical industries. These reactors areoften multi-tube reactors where the reactor is composed of a metal shellin which there is an entrance leading to an initial tube sheet, throughwhich many tubes penetrate and are held in place, an exit tube sheetthrough which the other end of the same tubes penetrate and are held inplace. The tubes usually lead into an exit portion of the reactor. Inmost reactors catalysts are packed into the tubes, and a cooling orheating medium, i.e., gases or liquids, is circulated between the tubesheets around the outside of the tubes to control the temperature insidethe tubes, while the reactants are passing through the tubes, over thecatalyst.

In most instances the catalyst will lose activity, become inactive orless active, and must be replaced. But first, the spent catalyst in thetubes must be removed and, currently there is no easy process. The usualmethod involves using a long, flat wire, tape or tube combined with airblasts an/or vacuum and tapping on the tubes. Each tube of the reactor,when often a reactor will have hundreds, maybe thousands of tubes, oftenin excess of thirty-five feet long, is manually poked with the rod orwire, usually from the bottom, until all of the catalyst has fallen froma tube. Typically, the workman feeds the tape or tube into a tube andcontinuously tickles the catalyst, repeatedly loosening the catalystonly to have it bridge every few inches or feet below the laststationary point until all of the catalyst has fallen from a tube. Oncethis is completed for one tube, the workman repeats this process on thenext tube until all of the tubes are empty.

It is a slow, tedious process, requiring the workman or workmen to worklong hours in a cramped, dusty, often hostile environment.

The present invention is a method of emptying the tubes (of a reactor)and an apparatus for doing same which is faster, requires less manpowerand may even be performed without the use of men in the reactor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method of removing catalyst or particles fromtubes by propelling a missile up the tube, striking the exposed catalystor particles causing the particles to fall within the tube, andrepeating the above operation until all or almost all of the catalyst orparticles packed in the tube have fallen out of the bottom of the tube.The invention relates to a method of removing catalyst or particles froma tube where bursts of missiles are propelled or fired up the tube, eachburst preferably being a series of missiles fired in rapid succession,striking the catalyst or particles causing part of same to fall down thetube until the particles exit the bottom. The process of this inventionrelates to a method of removing particles from a tube, by repeatedlyfiring bursts of missiles, each burst being at least two missiles firedin rapid succession, until all or nearly all of the catalyst orparticles have fallen from the bottom of the tube. The invention furtherrelates to a method of emptying a plurality of tubes containingparticles by positioning an apparatus having more than one missilefiring barrel so that each barrel is below a tube and firing bursts ofmissiles consisting of at least two missiles up into each tube until thecatalyst or particles have been dislodged and fallen out of the bottomof the tubes. The invention relates to a process of dislodging particlesfrom a tube by propelling missiles up into the tubes where the dislodgedcatalyst particles are collected by a stream of gas, preferably a vacuumsystem. The invention relates to an apparatus having at least one barrelcapable of being positioned below a tube where spherical missiles arepropelled up the barrel into the tube by gas pressure. The inventionrelates to an apparatus for firing bursts of spherical pellets. Theinvention relates to an apparatus for loading and delivering particles,where the loading chamber has a diaphragm which moves to agitate andinduce flow of the particles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic drawing of an air operated and controlled tubeemptying apparatus.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a single barrel delivery unit of a tubeshooting apparatus where the missiles are fed into the loading chamberfrom one direction.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a delivery unit set inside a missilebin.

FIG. 4 is the delivery unit of FIG. 3 bisected along lines 4--4.

FIG. 5 is another embodiment of a delivery unit, viewed from the top.

FIG. 6 is the delivery unit of FIG. 5, cut along line 6--6.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a multi-barrel delivery unit of a tube emptyingapparatus.

FIG. 8 is the gas distributor of the multi-barrel delivery unit of FIG.7 cut along line 8--8.

FIG. 9 is a top view of the bottom portion of FIG. 7 cut along line9--9.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the multi-barrel delivery unit of FIG. 7 with aparticular placement of the missile flow promoters.

FIG. 11 is a side view of a tube emptying apparatus, the missile bin anddelivery unit shown separated from the particle collecting unit.

FIG. 12 is a top view of the tube emptying apparatus of FIG. 11, themissile bin and the particle collecting unit in the position for use.

FIG. 13 is a side view of a foreshorten reactor showing the tubeemptying apparatus in place and ready for use.

FIG. 14 shows side view, bisected embodiment of the delivery unit, seton ball bearings within a cup in order to achieve easy leveling.

FIG. 15 is a view of the tube emptying apparatus in the reactor, cutaway to show the apparatus supporting rack and moving unit.

FIG. 16 is a side view of the tray shown in FIG. 15.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the method of this invention shall bedescribed in terms of emptying the tubes of a chemical or petroleumreactor, but the method would apply to emptying any tube or tube likecontainer containing particles. In most reactors the catalyst is held inthe tube by a porous stop, a spring foe example, to prevent the catalystfrom falling out of the tubes. The first step before applying the methodof this invention is to remove this stop. Once the stop is removed, amissile or pellet firing mechanism is positioned so that its barrel orbarrels is or are directed up into the tube or tubes of the reactor,preferably so that when the pellet is fired, the pellet does not strikethe insides of the tube or strikes the inside of the tube the minimumnumber of times before striking the particles packed into the tube. Inmost instances, the barrel is positioned so that it fires parallel tothe sides of the tube, preferably parallel with a line through thecenter of the tube.

The end of the barrel through which the missile or pellet exits ispreferably below the entrance to the bottom of the tube, i.e., so thatthe barrel does not project into the tube and impede the fallingparticles.

The positioning of the firing apparatus can be done by hand, i.e., ahandheld, preferably an air pistol, for example, or by a remotelyoperated automatic apparatus capable of moving one or more barrels fromone position to the next. The firing apparatus can be fixed to any partof the reactor, tube sheet, or even the tubes so that it fixes thebarrel or barrels in a position that when fired, the pellet travels upinto the tube and strikes the catalyst particles inside a tube or tubes.

Once the barrel or barrels are positioned, the apparatus is activated tofire at least one pellet up into the tube so as to strike the catalystor particles inside the tube. The impact of the pellet with theparticles packed in the tubes, loosens or dislodges the particles andcauses them to fall down the tube. The dislodged particles or some ofthe dislodged particles may fall down and out of tube or may fall ashort distance inside the tube only to bridge or repack at a positionbelow which it was impacted by the initial pellet. The firing of pelletsis repeated in a tube until all or the desired amount of the catalysthas been dislodged and caused to fall out of the bottom end of the tube.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the firing apparatus iscaused to fire bursts of missiles or pellets consisting of, at leasttwo, preferably between about two (inclusive) and about six (inclusive)pellets. These bursts can be in a shot gun mode, i.e., simultaneous andrandom, or in the most preferred mode, a consecutive or pellet-by-pelletmode where there is an interval of space, i.e., time, between each ofthe pellets, in a burst or string.

The desired distance or time between the pellets within a single burst(string) depends on the characteristics of the tube and the particles.These characteristics determine the amount of particles that aredislodged by the initial impact and the distance the dislodged particleswill fall before bridging within the tube. By firing bursts or stringsof pellets, the falling particles are discouraged from bridging. Aconstant rapid string of pellets, as in a continuously fired machinegun, is inefficient and somewhat defeats the purpose in that it canimpede their fall by promoting the bridging of the particles and evenbreaks up individual particles as they fall within the tube.

The preferred embodiment of the method is to fire repeated bursts orstrings of pellets unitl the desired amount of catalyst has fallen outof the bottom of the tube.

The preferred time interval beween pellets in a burst or string isbetween about 0.001 and about 0.006 seconds, most preferably betweenabout 0.001 and about 0.002 seconds (depends on length of tube).

The preferred interval between bursts or strings is between about 1 and4 seconds, most preferably between about 1 and about 11/2 seconds(depends on length of tube).

The inside of a chemical or petroleum reactor is often an inhospitableplace even without the added problem of falling particles. Usually abreathing apparatus is required to enter the reactor even when there isno problem of falling particles or dust. Besides the health problem itis desirable to remove the catalyst or particles from the reactor foreither disposal or as in many cases for catalyst reactivation orregeneration, or where the metal used in the catalyst is expensive,recovery of the metal.

In a preferred embodiment of the method, the particles falling from atube are caused to be collected, i.e., to fall into a means forcollecting such as a bin. In a particularly preferred embodiment of themethod, the particles falling from the tube are blown or vacuumed into acollection bin and then moved via air pressure or vacuum from thecollection means, through a large tube into a storage means or bin,preferably outside the reactor.

The pellet firing apparatus has at least one barrel but preferably morethan one barrel, i.e., between about 2 and about 14 barrels, inclusive,most preferably multiples of 5 or 7. It is most preferred that a pelletfiring apparatus simultaneously fire all of its barrels or in groups of5 or 7.

The pattern of tubes and the space between tubes within a reactor canvary from reactor to reactor and therefore it is necessary to match thepattern and the spacing of the barrels in a multi-barrel pellet firingapparatus to the pattern and spacing of the reactor tubes being emptied.

The preferred pellet firing apparatus is one having seven barrelsarranged with six of the barrels at the corners of a hexagon and theseventh barrel in the center of the hexagon. The most preferred pelletfiring apparatus is one having 10 barrels arranged in alternate rows of3 and 2, i.e., 3, 2, 3, 2, as shown in FIG. 12.

The pellet firing apparatus can be any apparatus capable of propelling amissile at a speed and to a distance sufficient to strike and dislodgeparticles within a tube. The pellet firing apparatus can be one thatfires the pellet mechanically by striking the pellet, or by airpressure, or even by explosion. Common BB guns or air guns or pistolscan be used in the method of the invention. However, the preferredpellet firing apparatus is one that has a constant source of gaspressure and fires the pellet by forcing the pellet through the barrelon a stream of gas. The gas used to operate the invention can be any dryclean gas (-10° dew point; 5m filter). The preferred gases are air andnitrogen, the most preferred is air.

The pellet can be made of any material but there are situations where itis preferable that the pellets do not contaminate the spent catalyst orparticles being removed, for example, when certain metals mightinterfere in either the reactivation of the catalyst or in the recoveryof the metal values. In such a case it is preferable to choose anon-interferring pelllet. Thus, the pellet can be made of metal, plasticor catalyst or even catalyst carrier.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, a means for indicatingthat the tube has been cleared is positioned in the reactor or on theapparatus so that time and shots are not wasted firing pellets into anempty tube or tubes. This means for indicating an empty tube can be anobject that responds with a signal when hit by a pellet placed at theupper end of the tube. This signal could be a sound, a light, movement,or a change in shape or pressure.

In some instances it is possible to determine the number of bursts thatare necessary to empty a tube and because the conditions are soconsistent from tube to tube, to use this number of bursts for each ofthe tubes. In practice, in is usually necessary to inspect the reactorfor other reasons (for example, to sand blast or clean the tube) andtherefore possible and most efficient to individually empty the fewtubes in a reactor that are not emptied by the predetermined fixednumber of bursts or firings of the pellet apparatus. In some instancesit is advantageous to cause gas to flow down the tube while firing intothe tube to induce the particles to flow down the tube.

Since the barrel is in the path of the particles falling from the tube,it is necessary to minimize the amount of particles that fall into thebarrel. This can be done by a number of protective means such as aprotective cover over the end of the barrel, such as a flap or slitcapable of allowing the pellet to pass upward but not allowing theparticles falling from the tube to pass into the barrels. The preferredmethod of protecting the barrel from falling particles is to equip thebarrel with a constant flow of gas flowing either upward through thebarrel or through a space formed by a tube surround the barrel so as topush falling particles away from the open end of the barrel. The mostpreferred method is to have a low pressure gas stream constantly flowingdirectly up the barrel or barrels.

FIG. 1 describes a preferred apparatus for the method of emptying atube. This apparatus is a gas assisted, gravity fed gas actuated pelletgun or tube emptying apparatus 10. The current practice for emptying areactor is to have several men with metal tapes or wires in the bottomof a reactor with each man forcing the tape up a tube so that theparticles inside the tube are caused to fall either into the bottom ofthe reactor or into a receptacle. Normally, this man or these men arewearing protective clothes and breathing apparatus. Even when theapparatus 10 is hand positioned and operated from within the reactor, itreduces the number of men needed, reduces the exposure of the men todust and greatly reduces the time necessary to empty a tubular reactor.But, the method and apparatus of this invention can be remotely operatedso that once setup at the bottom of the reactor, the apparatus may beautomatically moved over the bottom of the regular pattern of tubes soas to be positioned under all or almost all of the tubes without havinga man always inside the reactor.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the pellet firing tube emptying apparatus 10has a gas source 11, usually a tank of compressed gas or compressor anda system 13 for controlling the delivery of gas to the loading andfiring unit. The preferred gas is one that is inert under the emptyingconditions, non-poisonous and inexpensive, for example, dry, clean airor nitrogen. The force used to propel the pellet will depend on thedistance the pellet must travel and the force needed to strike anddislodge the object at which the apparatus is aimed, i.e., in the caseof emptying a particular reactor, the distance to and force needed todislodge the particles in a tube.

This compressed gas source 11 is equipped with a regular valve 12 toregulate the gas pressure delivered to the control and firing apparatus13 through a tube 14, which is preferably a flexible tube 14. When thecontrol and firing apparatus 13 is used as a reactor tube emptyingapparatus, the regulator 12 is set to deliver between about 25 and about350 psi gas pressure, preferably between about 150 to about 300 psi, andmost preferably between about 175 to about 250 psi. The gas is led intothe control and gas firing apparatus 13 through a high pressure line 15,optionally equipped with a relief valve 16 and/or a pressure indicatoror gauge 17. The gauge 17 should be capable of responding to theincoming pressure range and the relief valve 16 should be set so as toprotect the control mechanism 13. When the control mechanism 13 is partof the tub emptying apparatus, the reief valve 16 is set somewherebetween about 100 and about 350 psi and the gauge 17 selected to readbetween 0 and about 350 psi.

The line 15 is connected to a quick exhaust or shuttle valve 19 througha three way normally open valve 18. The quick exhaust valve 19 is openlyconnected to a receiver, accumulator or surge pot 20. The quick exhaustvalve 19 is connected, when open, through line 21 to the gasdistributing pellet loading and firing mechanism or delivery unit 22 tobe described below with reference to other figures.

The high pressure line 15 is divided and connected, prior to theconnection with the valve 18, to a second regulator 23 which deliversgas at a reduced pressure, preferably at a pressure between about 1 andabout 100 psi. Optionally, the second regulator 23 is connected througha low pressure line 24 to a pressure indicator or gauge 25 capable ofreading 0 to about 100 psi gas pressure. Line 24 leads through anadjustable orifice, such as a needle valve 26, which is connectedthrough purge and agitate line 27 to a check valve 28. The line 27continues through the check valve 28 to connect with the gasdistributing pellet loading and firing mechanism (delivery unit) 22 soas to continually supply a stream of gas through the pellet loadingportion to agitate the pellets and through the barrel to preventanything from falling back down the barrel.

A second low pressure line 29, downstream of the second regulator 23, isconnected to a two-way, normally closed valve 30, having a firstactuator 31, preferably a push button actuator. This two-way, normallyclosed valve 30 is connected to a three-way, normally closed valve 32,having a second actuator 33, preferably a push button actuator and thisvalve 32 is connected to a two-way normally open pulse valve 34, thepulse valve being set to deliver a pulse of gas for a predeterminedtime. The length of time is determined by the average number of pelletsone wants to fire in a single burst or string. The number of pelletsdepends upon the pressure and amount of gas supplied through the shuttlevalve 19. The adjustable pulse valve 34 is preferably set for a pulsetime of about 0.01 or less seconds. The pulse valve 34, is connectedthrough line 29 to the third actuator 35 of the three-way normally openvalve 18.

To operate the firing mechanism 22 one simple adjusts regulator 12 todeliver the desired gas pressure which in turn fills surge pot 20 andsends a low pressure stream of gas through the needle valve 26, which isadjusted to the desired level, to the delivery unit 22 through the checkvalve 28. To fire a burst of pellets one just activates the firstactivator 31 which delivers a low pressure stream through valve 30 tovalve 32. Then one activates the second activator 33 which sends astream of low pressure gas to the normally open pulse valve 34 whichdelivers a timed pulse of low pressure air to activator 35 of thenormally open valve 18, activating same so that the high pressure gas isdiverted to the atmosphere, i.e., the pressure from the gas source 11 onthe shuttle valve 19 is decreased opening the shuttle valve 19 which isconnected to the delivery unit 22 so that the gas in the surge pot 20 isvented through the delivery unit 22 picking up pellets and firing them.When the pre-set time has passed, the two way normally open pulse valve34 closes, releasing activator 35, redirecting the gas through the line15 closing the shuttle valve 19, connection 21 with the delivery unit22, and refilling the surge pot 20, readying the apparatus 10 to befired again.

A preferred embodiment of the apparatus of this invention is the singledelivery unit 22 shown in FIG. 2. The delivery unit 22 comprises anentrance connection between 36 connected to the shuttle valve 19 (notshown) through gas delivery tube or line 21, the particle purge ail line27 being preferably connected to gas delivery line 21. The enteranceconnection or gas conduit, bottom opening 36 is connected to the firinggas conduit 37 which runs into the firing/loading chamber 39 which opensto the bottom opening 52 of the barrel 38.

When uniform spherical missiles 40 are used the preferred diameter ofthe firing gas conduit 37 is about one half that of the missile 40, thepreferred diameter of this type of chamber 39 and the barrel 38 is about1.02 multiplied by the diameter of the missile 40. At the opposite endof the loading tube 41, there is missle delivery conduit 101 with adiameter equal to the diameter of loading tube 41. This missile deliveryconduit 101 enters the loading tube 41 perpendicular to the loading tube41 (or perpendicular to the ground when the missile loading tube 41 issloping slightly downward into the chamber 39) at a position on theloading tube 41 such that the distance between the center of the missiledelivery tube 101 and the end of the loading tube 41, not connected tothe chamber 39, is about one missile diameter. The 0.4 missile diameterextension 80 ends with a deformable, resilient preferably adjustableplug or stop 81, preferably made of plastic, most preferably made ofnylon. The plug 81 has a hole 82 running through it which has a diameterless than the diameter of the missile 40, preferably about one half ofthe diameter of the missile 40. This extension 80, plug 81 and its hole82 form a missile check valve 42 which prevents the missile 40 frombacking up in the loading tube 41, up the delivery tube 101, and intothe bin 60 (not shown) when the apparatus fires.

The delivery tube 101 opens on the end opposite its connection to theloading tube 41 into a clindrical funnel 83 which opens into the missilestorage chamber or bin 60 (not shown). The sides of the funnel 83 slopedownwardly and inwardly to meet the top of the missile delivery tube 101at an angle of about 15 degrees (measured from vertical), the funnelentrance 84 having a diameter about 4.5 times that of the diameter ofthe missiles.

The missile chamber or bin 60 is filled with uniform diameter sphericalmissiles which fill the funner 83 through the funnel entrance 84 andenter the missile delivery tube 101 and then fill up the missile loadingtube 41, usually by the force of gravity. While gravity is sufficient,it is advantageous to insure steady operation to supply a low pressuregas stream through the funnel opening 84 and/or the plug hole 82. Thedelivery unit 22 is fired by the burst of gas from line 21 entering thefiring chamber 39 and forcing the missile in the chamber 39 up into andout of the barrel 38. While the missile is in the barrel 38 the stringof missiles in the loading tube are forced back, the one missile nearestthe delivery tube 101 is forced into the check valve 42 against the plug81 shutting off the hole 82 thereby preventing any missiles from backingup into the tube 101. Once the missile 40 exits the barrel 39 a newmissile 40 is drawn in by gas pressure (vacuum) within the firingchamber 39, then fired through the barrel 38.

The preferred length of the barrel 38 is between about 20 and about 60times the diameter of the missile 40.

Another preferred embodiment of the delivery unit 22 is shown in FIGS. 3and 4. The loading/firing chamber 39 is a chamber formed by two plates,a loading chamber bottom 44 and a loading chamber top 47 which issuspended over the bottom 44 by support or suspensions means 61, forexample, posts. It is preferred that the bottom 44 forms the bottom ofthe missile bin 60 and the top 47 is smaller than the bottom 44 so thatmissiles or pellets (not shown) may move about the chamber, past theside of the top 47, between the top 47 and bottom 44, through thechamber side enterance opening 48 and into the chamber 39. In apreferred embodiment, in addition to the chamber side entrance opening48, the chamber top 47 has at least one, preferably three, chamber topholes 49 allowing missiles to flow from the bin 60 into the chamber 39through the top 47 via the chamber top holes or openings 49. The chamberside opening 48 is preferably about 1.2 missile diameter high while thediameter of the top opening 49 is some number between greater than onebut never equal to a whole number times the diameter of the missile,most preferably between 3 1/2to 4 or between 4 and 4 1/2(not 4).

The delivery unit 22 of FIG. 3 is set in a bin 60 so that when the binis filled with missiles the exit end 43 of the barrel 38 extends beyondthe missiles in the bin 60, preferably outside the bin 60 so that thebin 60 can have a top, and falling particles cannot get into the bin 60.The spherical missiles flow by gravity into the chamber 39, through thetop opening 49 and side opening 48. The top gas conduit opening 45 offiring gas conduit 37 and the bottom opening 52 of the barrel 38 (shownin FIG. 4) have their centers on the same straight line so that as ablast of gas passes through the firing gas conduit 37 and into thebarrel 38, it draws missiles to and forces missiles up and through thebarrel 38 propelling them up the reactor tube (not shown).

A particularly preferred delivery unit 22, which can be used to delivera wide range of types of particles including the pellets used in thereactor tube unloading apparatus 10 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Thisparticularly unique loading chamber 39 is adaptable to load and elevateor deliver particles such as grain, sand, flour, gravel and the like, aswell as the missiles or pellets used in the tube unloading apparatus 10.The loading chamber bottom 44 is connected to a continuous gas source oran intermittent gas source, such as the shuttle valve 19 of FIG. 1, viathe firing gas conduit entrance opening 36. The barrel 38 and theloading chamber top 47 are suspended by support means 61 which can, forexample, be either posts between the top 47 and bottom 44 (as in FIG.4), supporting the top 47 or supports 61 connecting the sides of the bin60 and side of the top 47 (as in FIGS. 5 and 6).

The gas conduit bottom opening 36 is connected to the firing gas conduit37 which passes through the bottm 44 and has a firing gas conduit topeopening 45 which opens into the loading and firing chamber 39 directlyunder the bottom barrel opening entrance 52. The gas conduit 37 and itstop opening 45 form a nozzel 84 which extends above the floor 46 of thechamber bottom 44. The floor of the chamber 46 slopes uniformly downwardat an angle of between about 3 and about 15 degrees, it loswest pointbeing the entrance of the firing gas conduit top opening 45. A flexiblebottom cover 50 stretches over the floor 46 of the chamber bottom 44,giving the chamber 39 an essentially horizontal floor. The flexiblebottom cover 50 is made so that, at rest, it is stiff enough to maintainthe essentially horizontal position essentially at the same level as thegas conduit top opening 45. It is usually made of rubber, plastic orthin sheet metal. The cover 50 has a cover opening 51 and the center ofthe firing gas conduit top opening 45, the cover opening 51, the barrelbottom opening 52 are all on the same perpendicular line.

When the apparatus is to be used for uniform spherical missiles, theminimum distance between the bottom of the top 47 and the cover at restis slightly larger than the diameter of a missilie, about 1.2 to 1.5diameters. When the blast of the gas moves through the firing gasconduit 37, the gas conduit top opening 45, cover opening 51 and bottombarrel opening 52, a vacuum is created between the cover 50 and thechamber bottom floor 46, causing the cover 50 to flex downward whichcauses the missiles or particles to move downward, in the newly createdcavity, toward the firing gas conduit opening 45, insuring that thereare missiles or particles (not shown) in a position to be loaded intothe barrel 38. When the barrel 38 is loaded with a missile or with aslug of particles, a back pressure is built up forcing gas flow throughthe cover release barrel side conduit 87 through the cover release line88 which connects to the cover release check valve 89, then through aline 90 which affords open communication with the cover release bottomconduit 91 which allows open communication into the chamber 39 beneaththe cover 50. (The check valve is adjusted depending on the gas pressureand the particle type.) The vacuum abates and forces the cover 50 upwardand if flexible enough the cover will form a seal against the edge ofthe bottom barrel opening 52, thereby increasing the efficiency byinsuring that all of the gas goes up the barrel 38 to force the missileor particle up and out of the barrel or delivery tube 38. When themissile or slug of particles exits the barrel or delivery tube 38, thevacuum below the cover 50 will be recreated and the cover 50 will bedeflected downward to cause the particles or missiles to move toward thefiring gas conduit top opening 45.

In a preferred embodiment, particularly preferred when nonuniformparticles are used, i.e., when slugs of material pass upward through thebarrel or delivery tube 38, the firing conduit 37 has an extensionnozzle 84, extending above the chamber bottom floor 46, just above thelevel of the cover 50 when at rest, the edges of the cover openin 51form a cover lip 85 (alos made of flexible material) which extend upwardand the bottom of the barrel 86 slopes inward at an angle of betweenabout 5 and about 20 degrees so that the opening 52 is smaller than thebarrel conduit 43. The lip 85 insures good contact with the edge of theopening 52, helps prevent particles from getting under the cover 50,while the extension nozzle 84 insures initial vacuum. The movement ofthe cover 50 prevents bridging and moves missiles and/or particles intothe loading position in the loading chamber 39.

The cover 50 is preferably sealingly attached to the chamber bottom soas to not interfere with the movement of missiles or particles,preferably outside the bin 60 as shown in FIG. 6.

The paritcles or missiles (not shown) to be loaded and delivered areplaced in the space or bin 60 above the top of the chamber 47, so thatby gravity feed they enter the chamber 39 through the opening 48. Theparticles rest on the flexible bottom cover or diaphragm 50. When apulse of gas is forced through the gas conduit 37, opening 45 and 51 andup through the barrel conduit exit end 43, a vacuum is forced under thediaphragm 50 in the space between the diaphragm 50 and the bottom 44causing the diaphragm 50 to be deflected downward around the opening 45,agitating the particles or (BB's) and causing them to flow toward theopening 45. At the same time the pellets or particles are forced up andout of the conduit or barrel 38, the cover 50 is forced upward, with theassistance of the back pressure check valve 89 which delivers gas underthe cover 50 as pressure builds in the barrel 38, to close against theedge of the opening 52. Repeated firing or pulsing insures good movementof the cover and the particles and good feeding of the delivery unit 22.

When the particle is the uniform spherical pellet or BB, one is facedwith a difficult problem of bridging of the missiles. To minimize theproblem, the opening 48 into the side of the chamber 39 should be justslightly larger than the diameter of the BB and the opening 49 throughthe top of chamber 39 should be between 3 1/2 to 4 or 4 to 4 1/2 (not 4)diameters of the BB's and the diameter of the top 47 should be such thatthe circumference when expressed in pellets diameters is equal to somenumber of pellets plus 1/2pellet.

The delivery unit 22 may be a multiple of the units shown in FIGS. 2 and3 or a unit similar to FIG. 3 without the diaphragm 50 and/or thesloping floor 48, arranged in any desired pattern. The most preferredpattern is one that corresponds to the normal pattern of tubes in areactor, i.e., 3 3/8 inch triangular pitch. The preferred pattern is onewhere a barrel 38 is at each corner and the middle of a regular hexagonor some multiple of this. The most preferred pattern is one in whichthere is a series of barrels 38 in a three, two, three, two repeatingpattern.

FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10 show a preferred delivery unit 22 having multiplebarrels 38. Gas delivery line 21 connects to a gas distributor 79 whichis a housing having a cavity 54 therein, the line 21 being in opencommunication with the gas distributor cavity 54. In addition, purge andagitation line 27 is in open communication with the cavity 54 or the gasdelivery line 21. In a preferred embodiment, there are at least two,preferably seven most preferably ten gas distributor openings 55 throughwhich pass tubes 56 in open communication with the cavity 54. The gasdistribution tubes 56 are connected and communicating with the bottom 57of the chamber bottom 44 of the loading chamber 39. These gasdistribution tubes 56 leads into and communicate with a gas conduit 37(not shown in these figures) which in turn communicate through gasconduit top opening 45 in the chamber bottom top 46 of the chamberbottom or floor 44. The diameter of the gas conduit top opening 45 ispreferably smaller than the diameters of the spherical pellets 40 (notshown) to be used with this delivery apparatus 22. Suspended over thefloor 44 by chamber support means 61 and connected thereto, each barrel38 having a conduit running through its length with a barrel bottomopening 52 on the bottom 59 of the chamber top 47. Each barrel 38 isplaced so that a line through the center of the gas conduit top opening45, the barrel bottom opening 52 and the conduit exit end 43 is astraight line and there is open communication there through. The meansof connecting tubes and conduits to the parts of the apparatus is notcritical as long as the connection is secure and allows the propercommunication.

Because of the problem of bridging associated with the use of sphericalpellets, it is preferred that the space between the floor 44 and top 47of the chamber 39 be slightly larger than the diameter of the pellet,about 1 1/3 times the diameter of the pellet.

The chamber top 47 can have chamber top missile openings 49 affordingopen communication through the chamber top 47. The space 60 above thefloor 44 and top 47 aroung the barrels 38 is the excess missile storagespace or bin 60. Thus BB-3 s or missiles are poured into the bincovering the top 47 and floor 44, forced into the chamber 39 through thechamber side opening 48 and through the chamber top opening 49.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 9, the top viewof the bottom 44 and FIG. 10, the top view of the top 47 the chambersuspension means 61 acts as missilie flow promoter means inside thechamber 39. These flow promoter means 61 can serve to support or suspendthe top 47 over the floor 44. The placement of the flow promoter means61 and the openings 49 is important and best results are obtained whenthe flow promoter means 61 are placed so as to be tangent to the gasconduit center opening 45 equal distance between alternate tow openings45 on the outside of the hexagon, 120° apart as in FIG. 9. The missilechamber top openings 49 are placed between alternate two openings 45,120° apart, the outer edge tangent with a line drawn tangent to theouter edge of the barrels 38. Another preferred placement of the flowpromoter means 61 is to have three flow promoters/supports means 61,each being of a length equal to the distance between the center of twoadjacent barrels 38, the inner edge placed on the line tangent to theouter edge of two adjacent barrels 38 as in FIG. 10.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a preferred embodiment of the tube emptyingapparatus 10. When a man is not to be placed inside the reactor, thisembodiment may be the gas firing mechanism 13 (see FIG. 1 for example)or just the delivery unit 22 or all of the parts except valve activators31 and 33.

The pellet or missile bin 60 and loading chamber housing 62 has aslanted side 63, sloped from the bottom toward the opposite side of thehousing 62 and the barrels 38 protrude through this sloped side. Thetube unloading apparatus has a particular catching or catalystcollection means 64 which fits over the barrels 38 so that the barrels38 protrude through holes 65 in the side of the particle catching means64, into the particle receiving opening 66 of the particle catchingmeans 64. The particle catching device 64 is equipped with a vacuummeans 67 for collecting and transporting the dislodged particles orcatalyst which fall or are drawn into the collection 64. The vacuum line78 is preferably flexibler to accomodate the movement unit 22. The bin60 and chamber housing 62 and its attached particle catching means 64are positioned so that the barrels 38 are directly below a number,preferably ten tubes, the system having been readied by supplying gas toline 15 thereby filling surge pot 20 and supplying a steady low pressureflow of gas through line 27 into the distributor 79 and through eachbarrel 38. Activator 1 and 2 are depressed in order causing the shuttlevalve 19 to empty the surge pot 20 through the distributor 79 throughthe loading chamber 39 and out the barrels 38. This burst of gas, drawsa forces missiles one at a time rapidly in and fires them out of thebarrels 38 into the tubes. The loading chamber 39 is kept filled withBB's which move by gravity into the chamber side opening 48 and chambertop opening 49 from the bin 60.

It is possible to fire a certain number of bursts of missiles, eachburst having 2 to 7, preferably 3 to 5 missiles per burst, and toinspect to see if the tubes are free of particles. Once the averagenumber of bursts needed to empty or nearly empty the tubes isdetermined, then one can follow a program of moving the tube emptydevice to the adjacent set of tubes after firing the pre-determinednumber of bursts. This procedure greatly reduced the time needed toempty a reactor. Any tubes not completely emptied can be manuallyfinished with the usual tapes or perhaps forced out from the top of thereactor.

Another approach to determining when a set of tubes is empty is toattach a means of indicating that a tube is empty 68 such as anindicator on the vacuum system 67 to shown no more particles are beingcollected, or a pressure drop indicator to show that there is free flowof gas through the tubes being fired into, or an impact indicator at theopening in the top of the tubes which would indicate when it has beenhit (it would take the form of seven (where the barrel number was seven)circuit breakers each of which would close on impact of a BB until acircuit was complete and air or electricity would flow to an activatorsuch as a light, sound or lever and/or to signal the apparatus 10 or aman to move on to a new set of tubes). The indicator means 68 could beas simple as a protective sheet of material over the top of the tubeswhich would show dents or make sound when it was hit by missiles. Two ofthese means of indicating are shown in FIG. 13, as 68, as a site glass68 in the vacuum line and a cover 68 over the top of the tubes whichwould shown dents or make sound as an empty tube indicator. The tubecover indicator 68 also forms a means to protect personnel workingaround the top of the reactor.

One of the most difficult problems associated with the pellet deliverysystem 22 is to maintain a steady flow of BB's from the bin 60 into theloading chamber 39 and up the barrel 38. As with any uniform spheresthere is a tendency for the BB's 40 to bridge and block flow. One way ofminimizing this tendency is to make sure that all of the dimension thatthe BB encounter, such as the diameter of the bin, the distance betweenthe barrels, the top of the floor 58, the top of the chamber 44,openings 48 and 49 are not exact or nearly exact multiples of thediameter of the BB's. (Commercial BB's usually range between about 0.172inches and about 0.178 inches with 97% falling between about 0.174 andabout 0.176 inches in diameter.) The BB feeding problem is aggravated byfailing to have the floor 44 of the firing unit level. This is somewhatovercome when one uses the cover 50 arrangement as in FIGS. 5 and 6 or aseries of covers 50 for a multi-barrel firing unit 22 (as would beneeded for FIG. 7) but it can also be minimized by floating the firingunit 22 in a cavity 69 as shown in FIG. 14 which is preferably ahemisphere. The bottom of the hemisphere 69 has an opening 70 throughwhich gas conduit lines 21 and purge lines 27, which are flexible, areconnected to distributor 79. The floor 44, and the distributor 79 arehoused in hemisphere 71 which floats on ball bearings 72 in the cavity69.

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the tube emptying apparatus 13 is attachedto the reactor 73 and/or the tube sheet 74 and/or the tubes 75 by anattachment means shown as 76, which serves to support and guide theapparatus and can have rails over which the apparatus is moved andguided. Through uniform force of the BB's 40 on the top of the floor 44or by external force (even manually) the floor is forced into a levelposition and locked there by a means for locking the hemisphere in place77, such as a set screw, before beginning to fire the apparatus.

When the distributor 79 is shaped as shown in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8 and theline 21 and/or 27 enter the distributor cavity 54 substantially oppositea particular hole 55, it is necessary to reduce the diameter of theopposite line 56 and/or that opposite opening 45 to ensure that allbarrels 38 receive the same amount of gas from the surge pot 20 onfiring.

FIGS. 11 and 12 in combination with FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate aparticularly preferred embodiment of the invention. The missile deliveryunit 62 houses the missile delivery means 22 shown only by the barrels38 and the external portion of the bin 60. It is possible, but notnecessary, that this delivery unit 62 houses a gas delivery and controlunit 13 or such unit 13 could be external to the housing 62. Thedislodged particle collector or receptacle 64 fits over the barrels 38so that the barrels 38 are inside the collector 64 and point out thecollector top opening 66. When one has a dust problem and wishes tominimize dust formation it is preferred that the collector top openingbe lined with a rubber material so that there is a tight fit between thecollector 64 and the bottom of the tubes 75 thereby preventing theescape of dust.

At the bottom of the particle collector 64 is a collector bottom opening78 which is preferably attached to the particle vacuum means 67 whichdraws the dislodged particles which fall into the collector 64 away fromthe collector 64 through a particle vacuum means 67 to a desiredposition (preferably outside the reactor).

The housing 62 and its attached collector 64 are preferably resting on amissile delivery unit support rack 92 which is attached to the reactorby a rack attachment means 93 preferably a means which is inserted intoand attached to the tubes 75 at the corners of a rectangle.

The missile delivery unit support rack 92 is made up of a first set oftwo parallel cart rails 94, a tray support 95 and a delivery unitsupport tray 96.

The cart rails 94 are attached beneath the tube bottoms by the rackattachment means 93.

The tray support cart 95 is made of two parallel tray rails 97 which runperpendicular to the cart rails 94. The ends of the tray rails 97 areattached to two cart sides 98 and each cart side 98 has two cart wheels99. Each cart wheel 99 forms a pair with its opposite cart wheel 99 onthe opposite cart side 98 and a pair of cart wheels 99 are attached to acart axle 100. A pair of cart wheels 99 and the attached axle 100preferably rotate together. The cart wheels 99 are adapted to rest onand roll over the cart rails 94 so as to move the cart 95 parallel tothe cart rails 94.

The delivery unit support tray 96 is made up of a tray 110 with a firstpair of tray wheels 102 attached on each side of one end of the tray110. This first pair of tray wheels 102 are adapted to rest on and rollover the two tray rails 97. The other end of the tray is equipped with atray wheel attachment means 104 which is adapted to receive and attachedto the detachable tray axle means 104. The second pair of tray wheels105 are attached to the two ends of the tray axle means 104 and adaptedso as to rest on and roll on the tray rails 97.

When the missile delivery unit support rack 92 is in firing position,the tray axle means 104 is attached to the tray wheel attachment means103 and the delivery unit rests on the tray in such a manner that whenthe tray axle mweans 104 is detached from the tray 110 and thewheel-less end of the tray 110 dropped down one has room and access tothe missible bin 60 and can replenish the bin 60 easily without removingthe support rack 92 or the housing 62, Once filled, the tray 110 isswung into place and the tray axle 104 reattached to the tray 110.

The support rack 92 allows movement across the bottom of the tubes 75 onthe cart wheels 99 parallel to the cart rails 94 by moving the cart 95and perpendicular to the cart rails 94 by moving the tray 110 on itswheels 102 and 105 over the tray rails 97. This allows one to empty alarge number of tubes for each support rack 92 placement.

In FIG. 16 the tray axle attachment means 103 is a slot adapted toreceive the tray axle 104 which is a bar adapted to slide into the slotand there is an axle lock means 106 which in FIG. 16 is a set of pinholes 107 through which lock pins 108 may be inserted to hold down axle104 in place. These pins 108 are removed to withdraw the axle 104.

The cart 95 may be moved in one direction while the tray 96 may be movedin the same plane in a direction perpendicular to that of the cart 95.When one wants to fill the bin 60 with missiles one removes the traylock means 106, slides the detachable tray axle 104 away from the tray96 and tilts the tray with the housing 64 so that one has access to thebin 60 and fills it with missiles 40.

We claim:
 1. A gas operated tube emptying apparatus for firing missilesinto a tube and dislodging particles in said tube comprising;(a) a meansfor loading and delivering missiles; (b) a gas source capable ofsupplying the amount and pressure of gas needed, and (c) a means forcontrolling and delivering the pressure and amount of gas neededcomprising;(i) a high pressure gas delivery line connected at itsupstream end to the gas source, passing from the gas source and beingconnected to a three-way normally open valve with first activator, saidthree-way normally open valve being connected downstream, through thehigh pressure delivery line, to a quick exhaust shuttle valve, saidshuttle valve being openly connected to a gas accumulator and, whenopened, downstream, through the high pressure delivery line, to themissile loading and delivery means, and (ii) a low pressure gas deliveryline being connected at its upstream end to the high pressure deliveryline between the gas source and the three-way normally open valve anddownstream of the high pressure line to a low pressure regulator whichreduces the pressure from the high pressure line, said regulator beingopenly connected to a first low pressure line, the first low pressureline being connected downstream of the regulator to a two-way normallyclosed valve, having a second activator, the two-way normally closedvalve being connected, downstream, through the first low pressure lineto a three-way normally closed valve having a third activator, saidthree-way normally closed valve being connected, downstream, through thefirst low pressure line to a two-way normally open pulse valve set todeliver a predetermined pulse of gas, the pulse valve being connected,downstream, through the first low pressure line to the first activatorso that by activating the second activator, then the third activator,the first activator is activated and the accumulator discharges its gasthrough the missile loading and delivery means.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1 having a high pressure regulator between the gas source and thegas control means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 having a second lowpressure line openly connected to the first low pessure line upstream ofthe two-way normally closed valve, connected to a needle valve which isconnected, through the second low pressure line, to a check valve toprotect it from the high pressure produced during firing of the missileloading and delivery means, said check valve being connected, throughthe second low pressure line, to the missile loading and delivery meansso that a stream of low pressure gas is moved through the missileloading and delivery means to prevent falling particles from fallinginto the delivery means.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 where the highpressure gas delivery line is equipped with a high pressure relief valveattached between the high pressure regulator and the three way normallyopen valve to protect the control unit against high pressure.
 5. A gasoperated tube emptying apparatus for firing missiles into a tube anddislodging particles in said tube comprising:(a) a gas source capable ofsupplying the amount and pressure of gas needed; (b) a gas control anddelivery means connected to the gas source for delivering the pressureand amount of gas needed, and (c) a means for loading and delivering aburst of missile comprising:(i) a barrel having a missile loading andfiring chamber at its lower end in open communication with the barrel,the chamber having a gas firing conduit at its lower end in opencommunication with the chamber through a gas firing conduit exit openinghaving a diameter less than the diameter of the missiles, the other endof the gas firing conduit being in open communication with the gascontrolling and delivering means, the center of the gas firing conduitexit opening, the chamber, and the barrel being on the same line; (ii) amissile loading tube having a diameter of about 1.2 times the diameterof the missiles, one end entering the loading and firing chamberessentially at right angles to the line through the center of the barrelin open communication with said chamber, the length of the loading tubebeing at least equal to the diameter of the number of missiles to befired in a burst, the opposite end of the loading tube having adeformable, resilient missile stop having a hole therein, said holebeing a diameter less than the diameter of the missile; and (iii) amissile delivery conduit having a diameter equal to about 1.2 times thediameter of the missile, in open communication at one end with themissile loading tube entering essentially perpendicular to said loadingtube, at a point where the centerof the missile delivery conduit isessentially one diameter from the end of the loading tube containing themissile stop, the other end of the missile delivery conduit being inopen communication with a bin capable of holding a plurality ofmissiles.
 6. A gas operated tube emptying apparatus for firing missilesinto a tube and dislodging particles in said tube comprising:(A) a gassource capable of supplying the amount and pressure of gas needed; (B) agas control and delivery means connected to the gas source fordelivering the pressure and amount of gas needed; and (C) a missileloading and delivery unit comprising:(a) a bin capable of holding aplurality of missiles; (b) a missile loading and firing chambercomprising;(i) a loading and firing chamber bottom, constituting thebottom of the bin, having at least one firing gas conduit, runningperpendicularly through the bottom of the bin, the gas entrance end ofthe conduit outside the bin being connected to and in open communicationwith the gas control and delivery means; (ii) a loading and firingchamber top, having a diameter less than the chamber bottom suspendedabove the chamber bottom, by a chamber top support means for forming thechamber, to a height slightly greater than the diameter of a missile sothat missile may pass the sides of the chamber top and into the chamber;(iii) a barrel connected to and passing through the chamber top in opencommunication with the chamber, having a bottom opening positioned sothat a vertical line through the center of the barrel and the barrelbottom opening is through the center of the firing gas conduit topopening so that when the control unit supplies a burst of gas, at leastone missile is drawn into the barrel from the chamber and fired throughbarrel into the tubes.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 where the area of thechamber bottom around the firing gas conduit top opening slopes inwardlyand downwardly toward the center of the firing conduit top opening sothat missiles are caused by gravity to move toward the firing gasconduit top opening.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 where a flexible coveris sealingly attached to the top of the chamber bottom around the firinggas conduit top opening, outside of the sloping portion of the top ofthe chamber bottom to form an essentially horizontal floor of theloading and firing chamber bottom, the cover having an opening thereinhaving a diamter less than the diameter of the missile, positioned sothat a line through the center of the barrel and the firing gas conduittop opening, travels through the center of the cover opening and thereis open communication between the barrel, firing gas conduit topopening, through the cover opening so that when a burst of gas passesthrough the firing gas conduit top opening, through the cover opening,into the barrel, a vacuum is created under the cover and the cover iscaused to deflect downward inducing the missiles to move toward thecover opening facilitating loading and firing of the missiles.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8 where the barrel has a side barrel conduit passingthrough its side in open communication with the barrel, the outsideopening of the barrel conduit openly connected to a first tube which isin open communication with a check valve which is connected by a secondtube to a vacuum relief conduit passing through the chamber bottomopening inside the chamber under the cover, the check valve having beenadjusted so that when a missile is in the barrel and causes backpressure, gas passes from the barrel through the check valve under thecover causing the cover to deflect upward until the area of the coversurrounding the cover opening is in contact with the bottom of thechamber top around the bottom of the barrel.
 10. A gas operated tubeemptying apparatus for firing missiles into tubes and dislodging theparticles inside the tubes comprising:(A) a gas source capable ofsupplying the pressure and amount of gas needed; (B) a gas control anddelivery means connected to the gas source for delivering the pressureand amount of gas needed; and (C) a missile loading and firing unitcomprising:(a) a missile bin capable of holding a plurality of missiles;(b) a missile loading and firing chamber comprising;(i) a loading andfiring chamber bottom, which is the bottom of the bin, said bottomhaving a plurality of firing gas conduits running from the bottom to thetop of the bottom each firing gas conduit opening into the chamberthrough a gas conduit top opening having a diameter less than thediameter of the missiles and opening outside the chamber bottom througha gas firing conduit entrance opening; (ii) a loading and firing chambertop suspended above the chamber bottom by a means for suspension, thechamber top being smaller than the chamber bottom and suspended to sucha height that missiles may flow between the sides of the chamber top andthe sides of the bin and between the chamber top and bottom, saidchamber top having a plurality of chamber top barrel holes thereinrunning from the top to the bottom of the chamber top; (iii) a pluralityof barrels attached to and in communication with the chamber top barrelholes in open communication with the chamber, each barrel beingpositioned over a firing gas conduit top opening so that the center ofthe barrel, bore and firing gas conduit top opening are on the samestraight line; (iv) a gas distributor comprising a gas distributorhousing having a gas distributor chamber therein, a plurality of gasdistribution conduits, each conduit being attached at its entrance endto the distributor housing and in open communication with thedistributor chamber and at its exit end to the firing gas conduitentrance opening and in open communication with the firing gas conduit,a distribution entrance conduit, its exit being attached to thedistribution housing and in open communication with the distributionchamber, its entrance end being attached to and in open communicationwith the gas control and delivery means.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10where the chamber top has at least one missile hole therein, passingthrough the chamber top to the firing chamber to allow missiles to flowinto the firing chamber through the chamber top.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 11 where the bin has one side which slopes from the bottom to thetop toward the opposite side and the barrels pass through the slopingside so that the missile bin can be completely closed and the apparatusstill fire missiles.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 where the bin has aparticle receptacle attached to the sloping side so that the barrelsextend into the receptacle, the receptacle having an opening throughwhich the barrels can fire and through which the particles falling fromthe tubes can enter the receptacle.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherethe particle receptacle has a particle exit opening for attaching avacuum means for moving the particles falling into the receptacle out ofthe receptacle.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 where the number ofbarrels is ten and the barrels are positioned so as to be in four rowsof three, two, three and two.
 16. The apparatus of claims 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 13, 14 or 15 where the missile loading and delivery unit restson a moving and positioning rack, said rack comprising:(A) a pair ofcart rails, attached to a reactor by means for attaching the rack sothat the rails are positioned below the tubes of the reactor, parallelto each other, perpendicular to a line through the length of the tubes;(B) a tray cart having a pair of parallel tray rails having a pair ofwheels at each end of the tray rails each pair adapted to rest onopposite cart rails and move the cart over the cart rails, said trayrails being perpendicular to the cart rails and to a line through thelength of the tubes; (C) a tray adapted to hold the missile loading anddelivery unit, having a first set of two tray wheels attached to one endof the tray on opposite sides and adapted to rest on and move overopposite tray rals, the other end of the tray having an axle attachmentmeans for reversibly attaching to an axle, an axle attached to a secondset of two tray wheels, the axle adapted so as to reversibly attach tothe axle attachment means so that each second tray wheel can rest on andmove over the opposite tray rail, thereby enabling the movement of thetray over the tray rails.